ENVELOPE

Illustrations of John Oliver from left, Emily Browning and Anthony Anderson.

Illustrations of John Oliver from left, Emily Browning and Anthony Anderson. (Chris Morris / For The Times)

Peak TV is a boon for audiences. But Peak TV is a trial for those who hand out television awards each year: The dizzying array of choices means there's no way many worthwhile performances and series will even get talked about, much less a nomination or an Emmy Award. So we're here to help.

Remember the title of that last episode of “Feud: Bette and Joan” — “You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?” It served as rueful comment on how the two titular Hollywood legends — Bette Davis and Joan Crawford — shoulda-coulda-would have been simpatico if not for the studios, gossips and, yes, their own insecurities and egos.

Ann Dowd had roles in "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Leftovers" this Emmy season, and connected with them both. "I've always been drawn to the outsider – the one that doesn't fit, the one who would choose her own company over friendships."

Ann Dowd had roles in "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Leftovers" this Emmy season, and connected with them both. "I've always been drawn to the outsider – the one that doesn't fit, the one who would choose her own company over friendships." (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

If the name Ann Dowd doesn't ring bells for you, just turn on the TV: She's a veteran character actress who happened to score her first two acting Emmy nominations this year, one for taskmistress Aunt Lydia in "The Handmaid's Tale" (supporting) and one for "The Leftovers" as Patti Levin (guest actress).

In playing Joan Crawford in the FX limited series "Feud: Bette and Joan," Jessica Lange, shown here in 2013, found "a tragic aspect to her character. And I found that was the most interesting part of her.”

In playing Joan Crawford in the FX limited series "Feud: Bette and Joan," Jessica Lange, shown here in 2013, found "a tragic aspect to her character. And I found that was the most interesting part of her.” (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Before Jessica Lange played Joan Crawford in Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed FX limited series “Feud: Bette and Joan,” she knew as much about the MGM star as you did, and it all came from “Mommie Dearest,” the 1981 Crawford takedown by her daughter Christina.

"For a writer, it's incredible fun to have such a great ensemble to work with and to be able to pair up characters in a variety of combinations in order to build a scene," says "Veep" writer Billy Kimball.

"For a writer, it's incredible fun to have such a great ensemble to work with and to be able to pair up characters in a variety of combinations in order to build a scene," says "Veep" writer Billy Kimball. (HBO)

A season takes months to write, weeks to shoot, hours to watch – and once it has an Emmy nomination, often what separates it from winning and losing an award can boil down into just minutes. Such pressure! So how do writers determine what the "key" scene is in their Emmy-nominated episodes anyway?

What do you do when the television series you’ve created becomes synonymous with the bleak, dystopian elements of technology? If you’re “Black Mirror” mastermind Charlie Brooker, you startle your audience with “San Junipero,” the first episode of the Netflix anthology series in which technology is put to purely joyful use.